A man accused of altering a negative COVID-19 test result to say he was positive has been denied entry to his own court appearance, after admitting he's been travelling in and out of Auckland.
The 27-year-old Cambridge man got a text on Wednesday saying he didn't have the virus two days after getting tested, but allegedly changed it to say that he did.
"The man then contacted a number of people informing them he had returned a positive test result," said Insp Will Loughrin.
At least one business closed its doors as a result, Stuff reported.
He was dobbed in by one of the people he sent the text to, police said.
"This is extremely disappointing behaviour that has caused unnecessary distress for a number of people in the Cambridge community," said Loughrin.
He was scheduled to appear in Hamilton District Court on Friday, charged with altering a document with intent to deceive, but was refused entry due to his travel in and out of Auckland, which is at alert level 3, while Hamilton and the rest of the Waikato is at level 2.
Travel between alert levels is strictly controlled. It's not clear at this stage if he had permission to cross the boundary.
Last week an Australian man was charged after faking a positive test in order to get out of work.
